Holding a Peace Hug at school.

Non-violence, find peace - World Peace Society of Australia

Holding a 'Peace Hug' at your School

Overview
Students learn in a practical way, how personal positivism effects everyone in the class, and its relationship to world peace.

Objective
To practice using positive affirmations and demonstrate the power of peaceful actions.

Activity

Begin the lesson by working with the class to compile a list of feelings: negative in one column, positive in another. Additional resource: feeling words chart
Ask the students to imagine the times when they felt these feelings. You might ask the students to reflect on when they were really angry recently, or when they were really loving perhaps with their pet or a little baby. The goal is to get the students experiencing the result of their positive and negative emotions.
You might break the class into groups or pairs and ask them now to share what they felt like when someone was angry at/with them. How did you know the other person was angry? What did they do in reaction to the other person's anger? Have they walked into a room where people were fighting? What did that feel like? Were they more liable to feel angry themselves?
Do the same thing with how they feel when they are being loved. When was the last time they consciously tried to love something, a plant, an animal, a person? Have they ever walked into a room where people were extremely happy and loving? How did that feel? Were they more liable to feel happy themselves? Have each group give a brief summary to the class. Record the main ideas on the blackboard.
Now ask the group to reflect on how they feel when they were very young and were being hugged by a parent. Did they feel loved? Did they feel safe? Ask the students to offer their own experiences. Perhaps what is their first memory of being hugged?
Ask the students if they might imagine what would happen if many individual people are angry - is this how wars begin? You might begin to explain the idea of a group consciousness, that just as a small group fighting creates an atmosphere of anger, so too does terror and fear of nations create a group consciousness that might lead to war.
Introduce the concept of the "World's Biggest Hug for Peace". Ask the students to imagine what it would feel like to hug 2000 other people all trying to be as loving as possible? Explain that in Wollongong, a group of people are trying to break the Guinness record for the world's biggest hug. Explain the concept of the internet virtual hug, where people from all over the world are pledging to hug a number of people for peace this September 11, in an effort to make September 11 an anniversary of peace, rather than anger and terror.
Ask the students if they would like to hold their own "World Hug for Peace" this September 11. Show them how they can "Pledge-A-Hug". Optional: Ask them to petition the headmaster (just print and sign the letter) to proclaim "World Peace Day" at your school.
To hold your own hug, perhaps the best location is outside where the students can form a circle. You might like to have a little ceremony, where the class or school, proclaims this September 11 as "World Peace Day" with the theme that "World Peace Begins with Me." The ceremony might include imagery from a variety of sources, perhaps students reading poems or musical performances or as simple as a selection of students coming to the stage and announcing "Peace" in various different languages.
The students should then form a circle and link arms behind backs. Explain that on this day, thousands of people all over the world are 'hugging for peace' and that your school is joining in this global action for peace. You might like to have some peaceful music playing while you ask the students to silently offer their peace and love to the world. In some situations it will be appropriate to regard this is a prayer or a meditation, whilst in others it might be described as an offering of goodwill.

home • schools • top 10 actions • about us